The Love Links to Life
by forgottenMisfit
Summary: From when Ryan entered Berkeley through past the wedding of SS. How everyone goes on, moves around and how the love they all share meshes together to make life. RT mainly, SS, SK, JBullit, Kaitlin, Sophie and Joshua growing up and a bit of Frank.
1. The New Life

Chapter 1: The New Life

Ryan stood there in his Berkeley sweatshirt ready to take on the school, but yet he hadn't moved since Sandy had dropped him off an hour before. Kirsten had made it a point to make sure that Ryan got the whole experience of leaving his parents, even if they only lived 10 minutes from the campus and his dad was a professor. He had stayed the night at the Berkeley house and then had woken up to breakfast and Sophie crying only to leave a happily crying Kirsten at the door as he hopped in the car with Sandy. Sandy dropped him off in the front plaza and then drove around to the staff parking lot. He appreciated the whole nuttiness that was Cohen now that his transcripts officially said Ryan Atwood- Cohen, but sometimes he couldn't help but laugh at their antics.

It had been a week since they had moved to Berkeley and he had moved into his dorm two days before. Even though the Cohen house was in walking distance, they wanted Ryan to have the full college experience which meant without the nagging parents and Sophie keeping him up at night. Ryan stood their in the middle of the courtyard staring as the students around him bustled their first classes. He had class at 10 and then lunch with Sandy at 11:30 to return to two more classes and then back to his dorm. His excitement was unapparent but it was there. He checked his watch once more and then saw that he had another 45 minutes before he would start his first class. He decided to return to his dorm which was about a 5 minute walk across campus. As he started his journey he felt a rumble in his pocket and pulled out his phone, checking to see who it was he answered with a smile, _"Hey Seth, how's R-I-S-D treating you?"_

"_Pretty good, but no brooding leather jacket clad guys walking around campus, how's Berkeley? Did mom and dad do the whole first day of school routine?"_ Seth replied with a laugh.

Ryan remembering with a smile the events of this morning, _"Yeah, your mom cried when I left, no surprise there. I am actually not going very far at all from the family, been gone for 4 hours and I am already having lunch with Sandy." _

"_Thought so, get used to it, and look at it this way, you never have to use your own cash for food."_ Seth smirked.

"_Not like its my money anyways Seth, they give both of us an allowance, I can't believe Kirsten put her foot down about working, I can't even get like a weekend job, my only option is babysitting Sophie and I am willing to do that for free."_ Ryan said with a twinge of pain in his voice.

"_Dude, I don't see why you want to work, enjoy getting drunk and punching faces without having to worry about getting up to work the next day, you don't see me complaining do you? What do you need extra money for anyway, the parents cover everything, just ask, you know that." _

Ryan rolled his eyes even though Seth couldn't see it, _"Seth, you are you, I am me, I prefer to not sponge off my parents, especially when they adopted me, put designer shirts on my back, paid for Harbor, and gave me a future; at some point I want to do a little on my own, I did it when we were in Newport, I don't see the difference in Berkeley."_

Seth giving up trying to argue with Ryan, _"Dude, whatever, mom is stubborn anyway, give up the fight, cause I am, sooo…. Heard anything from Taylor lately?" trying to change the subject."_

By this time Ryan had entered his dorm room and was just shutting the door. He turned around to see the photo of Taylor and him with Summer and Seth at the almost wedding of Julie and Bullit. Smiling, _" Actually she woke me up this morning to wish me well, she is about 2 days from arriving in Paris. She says hi by the way and hopes you are having fun at RISD."_

"_Thanks man, tell her I say the same, has she figured out why she can't fly?"_

"_No, but Sandy is going to look into it for her."_ Ryan said with a smirk.

"_That's cool, how are you guys doing this whole long distance thing anyways?"_ Seth asked as he sat on his own dorm room bed and stared at his mural to Summer.

"_We are just going to take it as it goes pretty much, if someone comes along or if it gets to hard we are just going stop until we see each other again."_ Ryan sighed as he hoped it didn't ever come to that.

"_Yeah I can see the no string attached clause to that one, man, this sucks, we are both away from our girlfriends and we can't even see each other to complain face to face, this is to much change."_ Seth was now lying on his bed staring at the ceiling in grief.

"_Yeah I know man, but we can fly to each other, and maybe you will make friend with other people and can complain to them Seth."_ Ryan laughed at the last part of his comment.

"_Whatever man, look I need to class and then cry to Summer about how much I miss her, but I will call you back later, thanks for removing Summer from my head for at least 5 minutes." _

"_Alright Seth, whatever you say, later."_

"_Bye Ryan."_ And with that Seth hung up with a click and Ryan checked out once more the few frames that Taylor had put pictures in for him and the then flipped through the recently updated scrapbook that Taylor had given him before Valentine's Day. There was a picture of Him, Marissa, Summer, Seth and Taylor on the way of the senior class picture, it had meant a lot of him when Taylor gave it to him because it showed that she wanted him to remember all five of them together and not completely cross out Marissa. Another picture was at Sandy's benefit of them dancing, the night Taylor kissed him in that red dress and blew his world. One frame was from the almost Julie- Bullit wedding of the Cohen family with Taylor and Summer and brand new baby Sophie. And the last picture was his life rolled into one, as it is now, Seth, Sandy, Kirsten, Sophie, Summer, Julie, Kaitlin, Bullit, his bio dad Frank, Taylor and himself right before they all went their separate ways a week ago. He smiled at how different his world had become, but how happy he was in it, even if everyone was every which way. Sitting down on the bed with the scrapbook Taylor had updated recently he laughed as he saw the older photos from before they first broke up and smiled at the latest pictures she had put into the scrapbook before leaving for France.

Looking through the pictures of them together at the beach, packing up the pool house, and other various activities made Ryan miss her even more, and knowing he wouldn't see her again until Christmas almost broke his heart as he thought about it. As he heard a key in his door he shut the book and placed it back on his desk, not wanting his roommate who already thought he wrapped around Taylor's finger to see him as a sap looking at a scrapbook. Just then his roommate Alex stepped into their room. Throwing his things on floor nonchalantly with the rest of his two day mess, he turned and spoke to Ryan.

"_Hey man, what happened to you last night? You like disappeared and never came back? Bang some girl before the first day?"_ Alex laughed guessing it was probably a no, since Ryan had Taylor and even he wouldn't want to cheat on Taylor if she was really as hot as she was in the photos of Ryan's desk.

"_No, I went home last night to get a couple things and decided to stay for dinner and then that led to staying the night."_ Answering as if it were no big deal.

"_Cool man, well I am going to head down to the café, you want to join?"_ Alex said as he dug through vicariously strewn jeans on his side of the room for his wallet.

"_No, sorry, I got a class in…"_ checking his watch, _"15 minutes, damn, I have to go. Later."_ Ryan then ran out the room on his way to his first class, hoping he wouldn't be late. Leaving Alex behind shrugging it off as nothing as he kept digging through his pile of jeans.

Ryan thought about how right Seth was about his roommate before he had arrived at Berkeley. He wasn't the same as Seth, he was messier than Seth and was different, almost weird in Ryan terms since he was Seth's brother and Seth wasn't weird, but Alex was still basically average. He didn't care much about his side of the room, while Ryan's was always organized, and they had only been in school for two days. Alex hailed from San Jose which was about 45 minutes away and had never even heard of Chino or Newport. He didn't pry much into Ryan's life, and only really knew the basics; Ryan was dating Taylor, he came from Newport where he lived with the his parents Sandy and Kirsten and brother Seth. He had never even wondered the whole age thing with Seth, asking if they were twins or something. He didn't really seem to care and that was okay with Ryan cause he didn't really feel like explaining. Through and through they got along pretty well and if this was the way it was going to continue, Ryan would be happy. He entered his lecture 5 minutes early and sat down ready to learn as the minutes ticked by and the professor entered the room. Life was starting over again for Ryan and he was ready and sitting in the driver's seat.

A/N: Please review, tell me if you want me to continue, if you don't or just want to add suggestions. Hope you guys liked, sorry if there are errors, geographically I am correct though cause I actually know where everything is in California city wise and Chino is not even close to Berkeley, its south with Newport. Berkeley gets snow.


	2. The Pre Parent's Weekend

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed, its really nice to get my first reviews and for them to be so positive. I am going to keep continuing on and this time without so many errors. I hope you enjoy and please review again.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or anything really OC, this is just my interpretation of how I wish things happened.

Love Links to Life: Chapter 2- The Pre- Parent Weekends

School had been in session for 6 weeks at RISD for Seth and for Ryan it was 5 weeks at UC Berkeley. That meant that this weekend, Ryan, Sophie, Kirsten and Sandy would be on their way to Rhode Island for Parent's Weekend and family weekend if you think about it logically. It was Thursday night Ryan was back at the Berkeley house playing with Sophie in the nursery while Sandy and Kirsten ran around packing everything and making sure their huge care package of all the things Seth asked for is packed together for their plane ride the next day.

Ryan was glad that he had been smart about not taking classes on a Friday so he would have this time to travel with his family to see Seth. Seth had been talking about this adventure for weeks and couldn't wait to show off his new school to everyone. Ryan was glad to be able to see his brother and best friend also. Since they had all moved into the Berkeley house everything was unpacked and the house was fully furnished except for Seth's room. Ryan had the room and adjoining bathroom next to Seth's while Sophie had the room across the hall and next to the Master. There was an office for Sandy at the end of the hall and downstairs there were two more guest rooms for when Julie and anybody else wanted to come and visit. Every room had been unpacked and even Ryan felt at home in the new house now when he came home on the weekends. Seth's room though was nothing more than boxes and an empty bed, and it felt as if he didn't exist when Ryan saw into his room from the bathroom. However, that would all change the following week when Seth flew home for Ryan's Parent's Weekend at Berkeley which didn't count since one of his parents worked for the school.

Ryan had been adjusting well to going to school and had come home every weekend for dinner and to spend time with Sophie who was now two months old. She would smile all the time, and Ryan would listen to the noises she would make when he would play with her. She was easily soothed when he read to her and Sandy and Kirsten loved that Ryan and Sophie got along so well.

Seth had been missing Summer over at RISD and made sure everyone knew about it when they talked to him. He although was getting along really well at the school. His Atomic County drawings had been a hit in the classroom and his professor told him to keep elaborating the story so in hopes that one day it would be picked up and turned into a comic book. Seth had been receiving emails full of Sophie pictures and the webcam was turned on every Saturday night when they all had a dinner together at the house so that Seth could feel like he was still in the family. All in all the boys were adjusting well to their new school and new worlds, both missing the girls in their lives.

Ryan was sitting on the floor of the nursery surrounded by fairytale books and little squeaky toys as he held a smiling Sophie. He was reading to her the story of Pinocchio at the moment and he could see her look at him with her big blue eyes as he read. He knew she had no idea what he was talking about but at least having this time to spend with her meant he spent less time thinking about Taylor. Suddenly he heard a bubbly tune go off in the room and knew that was his text message alert. Sophie started to giggle softly when she heard the sound. Looking down at her as he pulled his phone from his pocket he said in baby talk, _"You think that's funny Sophie Rose? Well when you get old enough I will play that tune all the time to bug you, the way Taylor makes it her tone to bug me. How you like that?"_ Sophie just giggled more as bubbles started to form and pop in her mouth. Ryan couldn't believe how having a baby sister could change him from brooding tough Ryan to soft lovable baby voice Ryan, but only Sophie would ever see that side to him and it was only until she could talk, once the secret could be spilled, he would stop. Laughing at his baby sister, Ryan pulled out his phone as Sophie was now amused by the lights flashing on the phone.

The text message was from Taylor, surprise, surprise since it was her message tone. It read: Have a safe trip to RI, I miss you, im getin ready 4 skool rite now and thought id tell u i luv u and tell sophie i miss her and Kiki and Sandy. Tell seth to stop emailing me about how much he misses summer, I KNOW! Luv and miss u. 3 Taylor.

Ryan laughed at the quirkiness of Taylor, he loved her and missed her so much. They had been apart for 6 weeks and it got hard to only live off of emails, webcam chats, phone calls and text messages. He missed her touch and kissing her and couldn't wait until Christmas when she would make the long voyage back to California. Taylor would have come home for Thanksgiving but they still hadn't figured out why she couldn't fly and the chances of her finding out by Thanksgiving and fixing it would be near impossible. Sending her back a quick text: I love You Taylor, have fun at school. Call me if you need anything. He snapped his phone shut and placed it on the floor next to him.

Looking down at Sophie again he smiled at her as he relayed Taylor's message, _"Hey Sophie, Taylor says she misses you. You probably think I am nuts huh little girl?"_ Looking into her eyes, Ryan smiled as Sophie just stared back into him, he then started to talk to her as if she was really listening and could respond, _"You know Sophie, Taylor really liked you from the beginning, she thought you were so cute and wouldn't stop cooing about you, I was starting to get jealous of you cause you took her time away, but don't tell anyone okay? I know you didn't mean it. She gets pictures of you just like Seth and Summer and she always talks about how you are changing, I never stopped loving her. I probably never will. Did I ever tell you how special Taylor is to me?"_ Ryan stared at the little girl again as he stood up and sat in the rocking chair and starting rocking her.

As he looked down at Sophie he starting talking about Taylor, finally having someone who would just listen, occasionally he would tickle her stomach but eventually his mind wondered as he kept talking, _" Taylor is like this roller coaster ride that never stops going in loops, and I don't like heights, but for some reason I like her. Just like you, she is beautiful and has this infectious smile; I can't help but smile when I am around her, just like when I am around you. She saved me you know, she helped me get over Marissa. She showed me love again, and I think I might love her more than Marissa, but she is still apart of my heart don't get me wrong, but with Taylor, it's different. Do you get it Sophie?"_ He looked down at her again as she was looking intently at him, her eyes getting heavy. Continuing, _"She gives me life again, and it's not the way Seth thinks it is, she is like this wave of sunshine, she does talk a lot though, and that may be why I feel like I am spinning when I am with her, but I think it's because I love her. It's hard to be away from her, and I sometimes am scared of loosing her, but I know, now don't tell anyone okay Sophie?_" He looked down at the slowly fading baby as he whispered_, "I will one day marry her, one day, no matter what, I am sure."_ As he said that, he noticed that Sophie was already asleep, and yet he felt a calm feeling come over him as he got to express his feelings, even if she couldn't retort it back to him, at least it came out. Saying a few more things to the sleeping baby as he got up and proceeded to put her in the crib, _"I really love her Sophie, but don't worry, you'll always be number one in my heart, and I will always protect you okay? Don't ever worry, you are always going to be Princess Sophie, and I will always protect you, because Seth, well, he might loose you in a mall if he gets distracted. I love you little girl."_ And with that, he kissed the little girl on the head as she lay in her crib sleeping, turning around he saw a teary eyed Kirsten in the doorway to Sophie's room.

Startled that his secret was out, he started to pick up the books and toys from the floor as he asked Kirsten, _"Umm, how long have you been standing there?"_

Kirsten laughed as she noticed the embarrassment in Ryan's voice, _"Just long enough to know that Sophie here is your number one girl and Taylor is going to have to learn to get used to it, oh and that Seth might loose her in a mall one day, remind me never to allow Seth to take her anywhere alone."_

Sighing in relief and laughing softly at Kirsten's comment he walked out of the room toward her and gave her a hug, _"Don't tell Seth or Taylor anything, or else I will tell Sandy about those new dresses in the back of Sophie's closet."_

Laughing, the two of them made their way down the stairs to the kitchen where Sandy was making smoothies. Sandy looked up to see who entered the kitchen, _"You all packed Ryan? You're bags next to the door with everything else?"_

Ryan taking a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar laughed, _"Yeah Sandy, they are buried under all of Sophie and Kirsten's bags, who knew a baby would need so much stuff?"_

Pouring the smoothies into glasses and handing one to Ryan, he patted him on the shoulder, _"One day you'll understand Ryan, one day."_

Ryan looked from Kirsten to Sandy and said, _"Uh, no, not anytime soon if that's what you are thinking." _

Laughing, Kirsten and Sandy toasted their glasses with Ryan to a safe and fun trip this weekend as they sat around the kitchen talking and enjoying some family time before heading to bed and on their journey to Rhode Island.


	3. RISD Parent's Weekend

A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews, I am trying to keep up with the writing as you guys are reading and reviewing and if you guys keep enjoying the stories and reviewing than I will keep writing. This story is a passion of mine and I am going to keep up with it, along with my other short one shots. I hope you guys read those too. Enjoy and please send suggestions if you want to see something in the story. Thanks- Tay

Love Links to Life: Chapter 3- RISD Parent's Weekend

Disclaimer: If I owned it the show would never have ended.

The Cohen clan was now one hour away from landing in Providence and Sophie was bouncing around on Sandy's in the window seat as Ryan and Kirsten had a conversation over their second bag of pretzels and third cup of coffee. Kirsten had tried everything to keep Ryan calm as they flew the last four hours, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was sitting in the isle seat and kept his hands in his in pockets to not show his nervousness of being in the air.

Kirsten decided to try a new approach to conversation to try and calm Ryan's nervously bouncing leg by asking questions to try and make conversation, "So are you excited about seeing Seth?"

Ryan looking at her quizzically, "_Uhuh, yeah, real excited. Been missing him, really excited._" His conversation had been this way the whole flight and Kirsten was surprised he hadn't passed out from lack of oxygen entering his brain.

Laughing, Kirsten tried another topic, "_So I talked to Taylor and she said fell in love with this really nice guy, but she was worried about him."_

Suddenly Ryan's knee stopped bouncing and he was his normal self as he responded to Kirsten in a confused hurry, _"What new guy, where, huh? She just text me last night about…"_ but stopped when he saw Kirsten trying to hold back her laugh.

Kirsten no longer being able to stifle her giggle as she spoke, _"I am sorry Ryan, I just needed you to relax, she did call me though worried about a certain blonde haired son of mine who she was worried about flying."_

Ryan looked at her cautiously asking, _"Really? She didn't say she was worried about me, she just wished me a safe trip, and oh she said she missed you and Sandy, and to tell Seth to stop emailing about missing summer, and how much she loved me, and that she was getting ready for her classes, but really it was like 6 in the morning for her so she really shouldn't have been up but I bet she was just trying to be in the same time zone as me but then again she does only sleep like 4 hours a night and…"_ watching Kirsten's amused face he concluded he was pulling a Taylor and rambling in replacement of his nervousness, _"I am rambling aren't I, dang it Taylor."_

Running her hand over his head in a soothing mother kind of way, she couldn't hold back her laughs as she tried to calm him_, "I am sorry for laughing sweetie, but seeing you like this, it's kind of nice to see you vulnerable for once, let's me be your mom. Ryan don't worry, look only 45 minutes to go, see, time flies when you are rambling"_, laughing again at Ryan's expense, _"I am sorry sweetie, but why don't you get up and go into my bag in the overhead, there is a purple book in there, pull that out would you?"_ She patted him on the shoulder softly.

Ryan got up and opened the overhead and dug through Kirsten's bag to quickly find the purple book she was talking about. Taking it out and closing the overhead, he sat down in his chair buckling up again as handed it to her. Sandy then spoke up when he saw what Ryan had handed Kirsten, _"Oh is that the…"_ but was cut off by Kirsten's nod.

Ryan looked curiously at Kirsten and Sandy as he spoke, _"What is it?"_

Sandy turned back to Kirsten not wanting any part in this mother son moment as Kirsten placed it on the armrest between Ryan and herself, _"You know how Taylor sends us all of those pictures of herself and those trinkets and things from Paris?"_ Getting a nod from Ryan to continue, "_Well I know how she loved to scrapbook and leave behind memories, hence your dorm room, so I have put together a scrapbook for her of things here so she gets piece of home and knows that some people here miss her and love her."_

"_Okay… so what is in this book?"_ Ryan asked curiously, not sure if he wanted to find out.

"_Well why don't you open it and I will explain." _Kirsten said with a reassuring smile.

With that Ryan opened to the first page which was a picture of Seth, Summer, Marissa, Taylor, Anna, Seth and himself at the Cohen house before prom. The title at the bottom of the page said: A Whole New Group Was Forming with the Very Last Prom. Ryan saw more explanation at the bottom of the page but decided to hear Kirsten out, _"This is what I saw as a new start to the future of Newport's finest, my two boys with new friends and opening themselves to a new world. The first real involvement of Taylor in your world."_

Turning the page, Ryan smiled as he saw the picture of Taylor at the end of the long dinner table at thanksgiving the year before. He laughed as he saw all the homeless fellows they had befriended because of that night. Kirsten continued with a smile following Ryan's laugh, _"I remember catching her eating the stuffing from the kitchen, which was a surprise for me."_

Turning the pages, Ryan found moments of them together at Sandy's benefit, the night he felt something for Taylor for the first time; at a New- Match party on the groundhog day, there were moments filled throughout the book that he had never seen, them kissing by the pool, eating at Julie's wedding, playing with Sophie or just feeding her together. They were all happy moments of the whole Cohen crew with Summer and Taylor, Julie and Kaitlin. For the first time, Ryan felt a flutter in his heart as he heard Kirsten tell him about each picture. As he ended the book he saw a few pictures of himself and Sophie and Sandy holding Sophie's hand waving, then there were some that Seth had sent over through email from RISD and some of Summer on her tour. The very last page surprised him the most though, for it wasn't a picture at all but a drawing that must have been done by Seth, it was The Ironist, Little Miss Vixen, Kid Chino, and a new character in the arms of Kid Chino, her name was Miss Paris Rambler. And she closely resembled a certain rambling girlfriend of Ryan's with a cape that resembled a sweater. Ryan started laughing as he saw the new character is Seth's comic, _"is that Taylor? Seth made Taylor a character? Why didn't he tell me?"_

Kirsten smiled as she saw the enjoyment on Ryan's face, _"He wanted it to be a surprise, what do you think? Capture her well?"_

Ryan shaking his head, smiles in reply, "_yeah, he did, he really did"._

Kirsten than pointed out the top of the page where Cosmo Girl sat on a cloud overlooking the new four superheroes. _"He didn't want to replace her, but he wanted them to move on." _

Ryan smiled lightly as Kirsten wrapped her arm around him, _"Thanks Kirsten, for showing me this."_

"_No problem sweetie"_, and with that she hugged him to the best of her ability in their seats and Ryan shut the album, forgetting he was even nervous as they conversed throughout the rest of the flight.

Sandy, Kirsten, Ryan and Sophie landed at the Providence Airport three hours previously, and after picking up their luggage, getting their rental car, checking into the hotel and a quick diaper change, they were now in front of RISD waiting for Seth to come and give them a tour.

Seth ran out of his dorm room after he hung up on Ryan, and headed straight for the front of campus where he knew his family would be standing under a big banner that read, Welcome RISD Parents and Alumni. Turning the corner, there they were, his loving and excited family.

"_Hey Mom, Dad_", Seth spoke slightly out of breath as he was embraced in a hug by Kirsten who was more than excited to see him, _"mom, air, please, need to breath_".

Kirsten finally loosened her grip on Seth as she wiped the tear from her eye, "_Sorry Seth, it's just, you are so grown up now, sweetie, and I've missed you so much." _With that, Kirsten wrapped him in another death grip hug before releasing him into Sandy's grasps.

Sandy wrapped him in a hug, trying to not squish Sophie in the process that was a smiling bundle in his arms, _"How is school son? I've missed you"._

"_Good, and I've missed you too dad. Hey Sophie, remember me? I'm your other big brother Seth, you know, the cool one."_ Seth said as he smiled at Sophie and took her from Sandy's arms for a hug before returning her. He then returned to what he believed to be the most important part of his life, his best friend and brother, _"Ryan, man, how's life, punch any faces at Berkeley?"_ embracing Ryan in a manly hug unlike the ones he received from his parents.

Hugging back Ryan replied, _"Hey Seth, nah, just catching more sleep now that you are gone". _

"_Thanks for love man_", Seth replied as he turned and introduced his school, _"Welcome to Rhode Island Institute of Design, the new casa de Seth. Breathe in the smell of brilliance. Cause this is what you are paying for."_

"_Thanks for the reminder Seth, now why don't you show us your dorm."_ Sandy said as he shook his head, Seth was still Seth.

"_Dad, look at it this way, you pay for my education and Ryan get's one for free now that you teach at Berkeley. Give and take, give and take_", Seth said smugly.

"_Okay Seth, dorm?"_ Kirsten butted in as she was strapping Sophie to her carrier in the stroller.

"_Off to the dorm, this way ma familia_." Seth said as he lead the way to his dorm.

Arriving at Seth's dorm after Seth pointed out every landmark on the way to his dorm, the door was opened to a simple yet Summer- esc dormitory.

On one side of the room sat very colorful array of fabrics and patterns. The other side was had a simpler color scheme and a mural to Summer along with a cluttered mess of papers and water bottles on Seth's desk burying his laptop and printer. _"This is my room, as you can see I have been keeping track of Summer's adventures and this is pretty much it, the mini fridge is over there with the microwave, and this is my bed, pretty much it." _

Ryan finally spoke to fill the silence that came from Sandy and Kirsten's gaping mouths, "_Nice Seth, think you could organize your desk a little more?"_

Finally another voice spoke from the corner of the room where nobody had noticed, a skinny boy with long blonde hair in a ponytail was standing in a bright orange- yellow shirt smiled, _"Hey Seth, is this your family?"_ Walking over to them to shake their hands, he introduced himself in a rather high pitched voice, _"Hi, I am Phillip, Seth's roommate, I'm a fashion design major, you must be so proud of him, his comics are amazing."_

Sandy and Kirsten finally snapped out of their Seth's messy room horror daze and shook Phillips hand with a smile, Sandy being the first to speak_, "Hi Phillip, I'm Sandy, Seth's father, this is Kirsten, his mom, his brother Ryan, and Sophie down here is his little sister."_ Pointing at the smiling baby in the stroller.

"_Oh My Gosh, she is so adorable, Seth, you sister is so cute, and your brothers, wow, are you Seth's twin?"_ Phillip asked as he shook Ryan's hand.

Ryan shook Phillips hand back with a smile, as he looked at Seth for help, _"No, we are…"_ but was cut off by Phillip.

"_I saw your graduation picture on Seth's desk and I just assumed, those are some pretty girls in those pictures too, oh and Seth talks about you all the time, and that Taylor girl, tell her that she can dress, Seth shows me her pictures in emails all the time…"_

Seth finally butted in trying to save his family from the ongoing one way conversation that Phillip and him had everyday, _"Hey Phillip, it was great having you here, but the parents need to go to their orientation before we go to dinner, I'll catch you later okay?" _

"_Okay Seth, come back soon everyone…"_ and with that, the Cohen clan was out the door.

Ryan spoke as soon as the door was shut, _"Man Seth, he talks faster than Taylor, and I thought that was impossible." _

Seth laughed, _"Dude, that was nothing, wait till he's drunk, he will sew a dress and tell you his whole life story I an hour."_

Kirsten finally joined the conversation, _"Seth, I hope you aren't getting drunk, we aren't paying for you to party, and either way you are underage."_

Sandy butted in while pushing a slowly drifting Sophie in the stroller_, "Don't worry honey, I am sure Seth knows better, right Seth?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, no drinking, heard the speech, plus, if I were ever drunk then Ryan could probably tell you, all of my spare time is on the phone with him, thank god for mobile to mobile."_ Seth responded.

Ryan saving grace for his brother, _"True, we are on the phone all the time."_

And with that the Cohen's left the dormitories and went on their way to the Parent's Orientation/ Welcome.

While Sandy and Kirsten spent the next three hours at the Parent's Welcome Orientation, Seth and Ryan strolled around the campus with Sophie, each pushing the stroller in turn, trying to act manly at the same. They finally stopped for coffee at a café on campus that Seth went to regularly. Sitting there with their coffee's Ryan started to feed a fussy Sophie while Seth rambled on about Summer and school.

"_She is now in Texas, enjoying the debates and trying to put a cap on all the oil drilling. Apparently though, Bullit owns most of the oil refineries and she feels kind of bad protesting against a friend of the family. He did however offer to put her up in one of his mansions though, but she had to turn it down no matter how tempting it was."_ Seth went on.

Ryan looked down at a happily feeding Sophie as he butted into Seth's conversation, _"Yeah, that's great Seth. Hey, what is up with your roommate and the colors and why the heck are you showing him pictures of my girlfriend?"_

Seth snickered, _"Oh Phil, he's a fashion design major, way gay. He designs all of these outfits and his bedspreads and stuff. It's kind of nice though, like we have half naked models in our rooms all the time begin fitted for a fashion show or something. He's a little crazy though, and every weekend after a show, he like gets wasted. It's almost funny, until he doesn't stop talking and I need to sleep. And well blame Taylor for being hot in the those pictures, I just show him what new emails I get and stuff and if she sends them than I show them, no big deal man, not like she knows anyways, she only thinks of you. Summer keeps complaining about her whining about how much she misses you."_

Ryan sighed, _"Yeah I know, I miss her too, oh and by the way, stop emailing her about how much you miss summer. She says she knows, and that you should just stop wasting your time emailing her and call Summer and tell her you miss her."_

"_Whatever Ryan, your girl does the same thing to Summer. She can bite me. Oh and did mom show you the comic cover I made with the new Miss Paris Ramble?"_

Looking up from a feeding Sophie, _"Yeah that was cool man, but why did you kill off Cosmogirl?"_

"_I didn't kill her off, she is just now a saint that guides the heroes from another world. I figured now that Marissa is gone, you know…"_

Sighing as he stared at Sophie, _"Yeah I know… I still miss her though, don't get me wrong, I love Taylor with all my heart, but Marissa and I, we never got to say goodbye, and I never got to get mad at her, with Taylor I can."_

"_Dude, I would be pissed at Taylor all the time if I were you, she never shuts up."_

Throwing Sophie's burp cloth at Seth, _"Seth!"_ giving him the look, _"I miss Marissa in the first love kind of way, but I think I might actually love Taylor more than I ever did Marissa. Do you get it? And I kind of feel bad almost, cause she's dead."_

Seth sighed and handed the cloth back to Ryan, _"Yeah man I kind of get it."_

They continued drinking their coffee in an almost silence as Sophie finished her bottle and Seth was forced to burp her, only to have her spit up on him. They headed back to Seth's dorm so that he could change his, "baby barf covered shirt", and then headed to the art studio where most of Seth's designs were.

Ryan walking in carrying a sleeping Sophie in her carrier was amazed by what he saw, the walls were covered in drawing and images of comics and characters in full color. Ryan followed Seth to his desk where there were images scattered everywhere and pictures were hung up all over the way. Seth dug through the pile of papers until he found a slender book. Ryan placed Sophie's carrier on the floor as he took the book from Seth's outstretched hands.

"_Seth is this, what I think it is?"_ viewing the cover that was a finished full cover color version of the image he saw in Kirsten's album earlier.

Seth nodded as he spoke with pride, _"Yep, it's the first official issue of The New World Adventures of Atomic County, introducing Miss Paris Rambler"._

Ryan nodded as he flipped through the comic book, _"wow Seth, this is amazing, you have really done a lot since you have been here." _

"_Yeah, I have to do something while Summer is away, can't sit and wallow all day long."_

The small talk was interrupted by the shriek of a cell phone going off. Ryan put the comic book down as he pulled out his phone before the shrill woke Sophie, _"Hello… Yeah we are in the art studio… you want to meet in front of Seth's dorm… okay, we will see you soon."_ Hanging up Ryan turned to Seth, _"hey, sandy and Kirsten want us to meet them at your dorm, they are done and ready for dinner._

"_Okay, let's head out because I am hungry."_

With that, the two boys and Sophie headed out of the art studio and over the Seth's dorm where they met with Sandy and Kirsten and proceeded to dinner at an Italian restaurant near the campus. They spent the whole night talking and catching up before Seth went back to his dorm and Kirsten, Sandy, Ryan and Sophie headed to the hotel. The next day they went out for brunch together as a family and Seth continued to show them the school and all of his classrooms. They went to an early dinner and then to a student film presentation followed by late night dessert and coffee. They all finally said their farewells, Kirsten's with tears as they left Seth at his dorm and headed back to the hotel to sleep and get ready to fly home the next morning. The weekend turned out to be a success and Seth was excited to be doing it in Ryan's shoes the following week in Berkeley. The Cohen's minus Seth flew home Monday morning and returned to their everyday lives anticipating the following weekend at Berkeley.

Thanks for reading, please review, tell me what you want to see. I hope this chapter is long enough, I wont be able to update again until the 25th of march at least because I will be in Disneyland, but have fun reading this chapter and I will try and update two next time. Bye.


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